Blondie- A Jake 'Hangman' Seresin fanfiction

Chapter 7

Warlock came in as Jake left, bags under his eyes and a vein throbbing at his temple.

"How are you feeling, lieutenant?"

"I've got a bit of a headache, but mostly fine, sir."

"Good. Now, we've had a team working on the wreckage, trying to work out what happened, and from what they can tell, there was a stress flaw in one of the turbine blades, which broke off, stopping the engine." He paused, massaging the back of his neck. "Obviously, we'll have a thorough official investigation, but as far as we can tell, it was a mechanical failure, not human error."

Georgie nodded, relieved that no one was at fault, especially not her. "Thank you, sir."

"You take all the time you need, lieutenant, and don't rush back to duty before you're ready, alright?"

"I won't, sir."

"Alright. I'll- leave you to rest." He nodded his head at her once before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

Physically, Georgie recovered quickly- she was discharged from the hospital on the second day after the accident. Mentally, however, she didn't even begin to feel the effects until the night before her first day back on duty.

The whole squadron was in the Hard Deck, which had become a tradition every Wednesday night.

"Guess what!" Phoenix called, skidding over to where Georgie was stood with Lainey, watching Hangman and Coyote play Payback and Fanboy at pool.

"What?" Georgie asked, handing Phoenix her drink from where she had been watching it for her.

"Bradley just asked me to be his girlfriend!" she whisper-shouted excitedly.

Lainey and Georgie both responded in the only natural way for such a situation: they screamed. All four men at the pool table turned to look at them in confusion, as well as Bob and Rooster over by the bar.

"You are so embarrassing," Phoenix accused, but she was grinning.

"Wait till I weep dramatically on the table about growing old and lonely, that's embarrassing," Lainey quipped.

"He's right there, just go ask him out," Georgie pressed.

"I don't think so."

Georgie made eye contact with Phoenix, knowing exactly what they needed to do. "Do it! No balls!" they yelled in unison, Lainey shaking her head at them as the guys at the pool table once again looked over at them.

"Look, it's like Phil Collins said: you can't hurry love," Lainey insisted.

"You are so right," Georgie agreed. "In fact- anyone got a quarter?"

"No?" Lainey responded, and Phoenix shook her head.

"Useless, both of you. Won't be a sec." She pushed herself away from the table she had been leaning against and towards the pool table.

"Jake," she began, approaching him where he was watching Coyote take a shot.

"Yeah?"

"Have you got a quarter?" she smiled at him hopefully.

"Yeah, hang on." He reached into his pocket and pulled one out, flipping it towards her.

"Thanks! Love you!" she called, blowing him a kiss as she walked away, towards the jukebox.

Twenty minutes later, after their song had played, their group had collected closer together around the pool table. To Georgie's left, Coyote, Bob, and Fanboy were discussing the exercise they had completed that day; to her right, Jake and Payback were talking about the football; and, directly in front of her, Lainey had already moved on to teasing Phoenix and Rooster.

The noise washed over Georgie like a tsunami, making her lungs tighten as though she was drowning. The heat of so many bodies pressed in on her from all sides, and the lights on the ceiling began to vibrate in time with her bones. Fighting for breath, her skeleton buzzing, she pushed past Lainey and out of the door.